Thirty students and nine teams received trophies as the top competitors in the systemwide Baltimore County Public Schools Chess Championship held at Cockeysville Middle School on April 27.

This year's competition saw a larger number of students than ever compete — more than 170 students from 38 schools took part in the championship. The countywide competition has grown from 110 chess competitors in 2011 to 130 last year to 174 in 2013.

On the high school level, the squad from Dulaney High School took first place. Team members are Rex Ledesma, Steven Zhang, Steven Han, Sai Alur and Michelle Ko. Hereford High came in second and Pikesville High finished third.

At the middle school level, Cockeysville's team ranked first for the third year in a row. Its members are Nate Huynh, Ryan Anton, Harshil Patel, J.P. Martinez and Fanglin Ding. Stemmers Run Middle School took second and Dumbarton Middle, third.

Cromwell Valley Elementary Regional Magnet School captured first place at the elementary school level, with members Maverick Irwin, Ben Beegan, Alexa Aquino, Johannes Qian and Cole Bradford. Ranked second was Essex Elementary and Timonium Elementary finished third.

In individual play, the top three finishers in the high school division were Steven Zhang, and Rex Ledesma of Dulaney, and Max Strasnick, of Catonsville.

In the middle school division, Gage Flannery of Stemmers Run was first, followed by Nate Huynh, of Cockeysville and Zach Jablow, of Dumbarton in third.

Among elementary school players, Maverick Irwin, of Cromwell Valley, finished first, followed by Gage Weir, of Essex, and Cole Bradford of Cromwell Valley.